I am continually amazed by the degree to which statin drugs continue to be pushed by physicians as the best solution for preventing death by heart disease. It is understandable that the pharmaceutical companies who supply the drugs would naturally promote their products as the best solution for heart health, but one would hope that a personal physician would not pass this commercial bias onto his/her patients. The study below cited from the Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that supplementing with an optimal amount of omega-3 fatty acids has greater impact on reducing mortality risk due to heart disease than statin drugs, all for less cost and no harmful side effects.
A recent meta-analysis (involving almost 100 clinical trials and more than 250,000 individuals) reviewed mortality risk reduction from both statin drugs and omega-3 fatty acids. The results were impressive: statins reduced overall mortality risk by 13%, while omega-3 fatty acids reduced it by a dramatic 23%.
A review published in the April 11, 2005 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine analyzed the effects of various lipid-lowering regimens on overall mortality and mortality from coronary heart disease. Researchers reviewed 97 clinical trials that included 137,140 men and women receiving treatment and 138,976 control subjects. This analysis compared the mortality risk associated with diet, lipid-lowering drugs, omega-3 fatty acids (commonly found in fish oils), and niacin.
Statins (a class of lipid-lowering drugs) and omega-3 fatty acids significantly lowered both overall and coronary heart disease mortality risk during the trial periods. When compared to controls, overall mortality risk was reduced 13 percent by statin drugs and 23 percent by omega-3 fatty acids. When the risk of mortality from heart disease alone was examined, the use of statin drugs and omega-3 fatty acids were found to lower the risk by 22 and 32 percent, respectively.
Since omega-3 fatty acids did not reduce cholesterol levels significantly, researchers suggest that protection against heart arrhythmias, in addition to known anti-inflammatory properties, may be responsible for the reduction in mortality risk. Arch Intern Med. 2005 Apr 11;165(7):725-30
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Nutrition, Supplements, Omega-3 fatty acids
I agree 100% with your “take” on Statins and Omega 3s. Omega 3 is far superior. (I have this deep obsession that it was Statin drugs that killed my wife 8 years ago.) If Omega 3s act so favorably on cardiovascular function in so many ways, yet do not reduce cholesterol, this means to me, simply, that cholesterol is, then, not such a big factor in heart health that is was cracked up to be.
I am just concerned about the main source of Omega 3 which is the liver of fish. as you can see, fishes can accumulate mercury and pcb. ;~.
Alex,
I share the same concern as you in terms of trusting the quality of essential fatty acids taken in through fish oil. It is true that today’s fish supply has increasing levels of impurities, even among high-end restaurants who buy from high-quality vendors. While I personally love sushi, I would not think of eating it with a high degree of regularity for this reason. Rather, I consume a pharmaceutical-grade supplement daily which has been refined to where there is no detectable level of impurities:
http://www.usana.com/media/File/Prospecting%20page/Tools/US/nutritionals/US-EN%20%20BiOmegavsNaturalSources.pdf
Let me know if you would like more information on this product.